Category: Cannabis News Corner

China puts the brakes on GE rice

Jeannie Herer

Marcia Ishii-Eiteman
 
Rice paddy China
 
A raging public controversy over genetically engineered (GE) rice in China captured media attention in recent months, and has culminated in a surprising win. A few weeks ago, the country’s State Council released a new Draft Food Law1 that, if passed, would protect the genetic resources of China’s food crops and restrict the application of GE technology in its main food crops.
This is significant progress in the effort by farmers and campaigners in China and indeed across Asia to protect the genetic integrity, diversity and heritage of their rice.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.panna.org/blog/china-puts-brakes-ge-rice

Tanzania: Insecticide in Every Cell

Jeannie Herer

BY ANNE OUTWATER
 
A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal.
Pesticides are poisons designed to kill a variety of plants and animals such as insects (insecticides), weeds (herbicides), and mold or fungus (fungicides). Last week we talked about herbicides and genetically modified organisms; this week we will consider insecticides.
Herbicide tolerant crops comprise about 80% of all GM plants. The other 20% are corn and cotton varieties that produce insecticide in every cell. This is accomplished due to a gene from a soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, which produces a natural insect-killing poison called Bt toxin.
For years, even organic farmers and others have sprayed crops with solutions containing natural Bt bacteria as a method of insect control. In Tanzania it has been used by DSM city council as a mosquito larvicide. The toxin creates holes in the stomachs of the victims and kills them. Genetic engineers take the gene that produces the toxin in bacteria and insert it into the DNA of crops so that the plant does the work, not the farmer.
Crops such as Bt cotton produce pesticides inside the plant. This kills or deters insects – but it does so by being embedded into every cell of GMO plants. Corn and cotton: Food and clothing. The Bt-toxin produced in GM crops is “vastly different from the bacterial [Bt-toxins] used in organic and traditional farming and forestry.”7 The plant produced version is designed to be more toxic than natural varieties, and is about 3,000-5,000 times more concentrated than the spray form.
The plants themselves are toxic, and not just to insects. There are many problems associated with the whole environment (including the soil, other animals, food and clothing) being impregnated with toxins in the DNA of every cell. Each cell is being impregnated with poison, and these poisons are being let out as food and clothing.
 
Read complete article here:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201203121299.html

HEALED: How I Cured My Cancer with Cannabis

Jeannie Herer

By Charmie Gholson
This story is the first in a series exploring the curative powers of marijuana, told from the perspective of the people who say they have used it to heal themselves.
These claims are not a part of a formal study and have not been evaluated by a scientific panel. They are documented observations of the patient and his treating physician. The American Cultivator believes in relaying these stories, with the hope that more research will be forced to fruition and assist in the reduction of patient suffering from chronic illness.
Mike McShane has endured five bouts of Squamous cell carcinoma cancer. He’s spent a million dollars and has been treated with radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery by this team of doctors at the Detroit Medical Center. Today, he believes the invasive treatments were unnecessary. He says he’s cured his latest bout with the disease using a highly concentrated form of marijuana oil called Simpson Oil.
 
Read complete article here:
http://themidwestcultivator.com/marijuana-news-features/02-2012/healed-how-i-cured-my-cancer-with-cannabis

LSD May Help Cure Alcoholism, Study Says

Jeannie Herer

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-by Vania Andre, Staff Writer; Image: LSD Stamps (Image Source: Nature.com)
 
 
There’s a case for legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, but what about LSD? A new report released Friday suggests LSD can be used to treat alcoholism.
LSD can prevent patients from relapsing during alcohol abuse treatment, researchers from Norwegian University of Science and Technology found.
“A single dose of LSD has a significant beneficial effect on alcohol misuse,” the researchers wrote.
The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
“LSD worked in an entirely different way than any current psychiatric drugs,” Teri Krebs, researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. “Many patients said they had gained a new appreciation for their alcohol problem and new motivation to address it.”
The study involved 536 alcoholics. Two-thirds of the participants were given LSD. 59 percent of those given LSD did not relapse, compared to the 38 percent of those who were not given the drug.
“Given the evidence for a beneficial effect of LSD on alcoholism, it is puzzling why this treatment approach has been largely overlooked,” the researchers wrote in the study.
 
Read complete article here:
http://allmediany.com/details_news_article.php?news_artid=3533

House: Pot possession not a crime

Jeannie Herer

By  / Monitor staff
 
The New Hampshire House voted 162-161 yesterday to decriminalize less than a half-ounce of marijuana, with House Speaker Bill O’Brien choosing not to cast a potentially decisive vote.
Under House Bill 1526, the first two times a person is caught with up to a half-ounce of the drug, he or she would be charged with a violation and fined. The first fine would be up to $250 and the second fine up to $500.
On the third violation, the person would be charged with a misdemeanor crime, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
“This is a calculated, measured reduction in the penalties for possession,” said Rep. Kyle Tasker, a Nottingham Republican.
The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee had recommended passage of the bill in a 9-7 vote last month. The vote yesterday on the House floor was equally close.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/316182/house-pot-possession-not-crime?SESSa99a1f078d878aa7c165c329ad57da3c=google